Tips For Eating Out Low Carb

Following a new way of eating is hard enough at home, but what about when you leave the house? Worried you’ll fall prey to temptation? Concerned that well-meaning friends will sabotage your diet (C’mon, a little ice cream never hurt anyone!")? Here are some ideas to help you through.

Plan Plan Plan!

The more you decide ahead of time, the fewer choices will confront you when the waiter hands you the menu. Be clear about what you’re going to do. If possible, look at the menu ahead of time (many restaurants have menus online now).

At First, Take the Easy Street

If you are new to a particular diet, make it easy on yourself. You can handle pasta places some time down the road. For now, think about restaurants with easy low-carb choices. Places where things come separately (like steak and salad) are easier than cuisines that emphasize dishes with lots of ingredients.

Don’t Be Shy

Order confidently. Restaurants are used to special orders. As someone who can’t eat wheat products, I have become comfortable asking questions about the various dishes. Although I don’t expect a dish to be changed for me, I often get offers if I am polite about explaining my needs. You might think about adopting the attitude of someone with a medical condition who just can’t eat certain things. You may be surprised at how accommodating the chef can be. (The more casual the restaurant, the less likely this is to happen.)

Look for These

Here are some of the easiest things to order which are low in carbs:

• Look for fairly plain (and unbreaded) meat with vegetables and/or salads (no croutons). Ask for extra veggies instead of the potato or fries (often if you say “no potato” you will be asked if you’d like more veggies, or the chef may just "fill out the plate" with them).
• “Meal Salads” are getting more popular, and can be very tasty. If you don’t like the options, pick a sandwich that looks good, but ask for the “innards” to be put on top of a green salad.
• Order the burger, steak sandwich, etc, without the bun. Have a salad on the side.
• If it’s an “breakfast all day” type of place, order an omelet for lunch or dinner, with low-carb veggies such as spinach, peppers, mushrooms, etc. Have fruit on the side.

And Always…

- Substitute salad or veggies for higher carb sides like fries and macaroni salad.
- Ask for no bread basket or chip bowl –- or at least keep it as far from your seat as possible.
- Nothing deep fried.
- If you're feeling dessert-deprived, taste your table-mate's. A small spoonful could be all you need to satisfy your curiosity.

Finally, if you see something that you really wish you could eat, try to figure out how to make it low in carbs at home.

Eliminate procrastination

Are you affected?
Have you ever seen your most important tasks being put off until later and then later and later, while you are getting busy with many not so important activities? Did you hope that you may have more time and better mood in the future to start the task and do it properly? Does an approaching deadline mean a crisis for you? Do you keep hesitating every time you make a decision?

If you often see yourself in such low productivity situations, then there is a big chance that your life got under control of the procrastination habit. And those situations are only the most explicit symptoms.

What is it?
A basic definition of procrastination is putting off the things that you should be doing now. This happens with all of us time after time.

Yet, what makes a big difference for your success is your ability to recognize procrastination reasons and expressions in their different forms, and to promptly take them under control, before this bad habit steals your opportunities, damages your career and pride, or destroys your relationships. So why do not you do it now?

Causes of procrastination

What are typical reasons why you procrastinate? Procrastination: Do it now! Here are a few of the most common situations to consider in your anti procrastination efforts.

It can be as simple as

    Waiting for the right mood
    Waiting for the right time

Then look at the way you organize your work. You may notice other reasons for procrastination like

•     Lack of clear goals
•     Underestimating the difficulty of the tasks
•     Underestimating the time required to complete the tasks
•     Unclear standards for the task outcomes
•     Feeling as the tasks are imposed on you from outside
•     Too ambiguous tasks

And there are also many connections with

•     Underdeveloped decision making skills
•     Fear of failure or fear of success
•     Perfectionism